SNP condemned over ‘mess’ in A&E as thousands face long waits

SNP ministers have come under fire over the “mess in A&E” as the latest weekly figures showed more than 10,000 Scots spent longer than the four-hour target time in emergency departments.

New data for the week ending April 12 shows that of the 27,729 people who needed help at accident and emergency, 62.7% – 10,336 patients – were seen and either admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.

That marked an improvement from the previous week, when 59.9% of patients were treated within the target time, but was below the 2025 weekly average of 64.9%.

The latest total was also well below the Scottish Government target of having 95% of A&E patients admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.

Public Health Scotland’s data also shows that in the week ending April 12, 3,920 (14.1%) patients spent more than eight hours in A&E, including 1,691 (6.1%) who were there for 12 hours or more.

The number of patients having these longer waits was down from the previous week – but higher than the weekly average from last year.

Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: “These dire statistics are further proof that the SNP have run our health service into the ground.

“On John Swinney’s watch, A&E waiting times have soared, medic numbers have plummeted, and the promise to end year-long waits by the end of March has been broken.

“If the SNP get another five years in power, they will obsess over independence at the expense of everything else.

“Frontline staff and patients deserve better than a Government that only cares about constitutional grievances.”

Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Dame Jackie Baillie said: “Week in, week out, thousands of Scots are facing dangerously long waits for urgent healthcare as a result of the SNP’s failure to fix the mess in A&E.

“A long list of SNP health secretaries and first ministers have promised to fix this crisis, but none of them have – we need a change in Government.

“John Swinney and the SNP have given up on dealing with the problem, telling patients and staff alike to accept chaos as the norm.

“The SNP’s endless A&E crisis shows Scotland needs change, and only Scottish Labour can deliver it.”

But Clare Haughey, the SNP candidate for Rutherglen and Cambuslang, said: “Under John Swinney’s leadership, the SNP is focused on improving our NHS – and our plan is working.

“Waiting times are down, operation numbers are up, we have more GPs, and GP walk-in centres are opening all over the country.

“Of course, there are still challenges, just as there are across these islands, but the fact is that our A&Es are outperforming the rest of the UK.

“There is still much work to be done but the SNP is the only party with a plan for our NHS.”